Candide · Chapter
XXII: What Happened in France to Candide and Martin explained
Candide and Martin travel to Paris, where Candide falls ill and is swarmed by doctors, devotees, and a priest demanding a bill for the afterlife.
What happens
Candide and Martin travel to Paris, where Candide falls ill and is swarmed by doctors, devotees, and a priest demanding a bill for the afterlife. After recovering, they are taken to the theater by a Perigordian Abbé, who later arranges a supper with a Marchioness. Candide is seduced and gives her two diamonds. The Abbé then orchestrates a scheme where a false Cunégonde lures Candide to her bedside, only for an officer to arrest him as a suspected foreigner. Candide bribes the officer with diamonds and escapes to Dieppe, then boards a ship for England, still hoping to reach Venice and the real Cunégonde.
Themes in this chapter
Suffering and Human Cruelty
Candide experiences illness, betrayal, and arrest in Paris, highlighting the cruelty and deceit of society.
Wealth and Corruption
Candide's diamonds lead to seduction, theft, and bribery, showing how wealth corrupts and attracts exploitation.
Optimism vs. Pessimism
Martin's cynical observations contrast with Candide's naive trust, culminating in Martin declaring himself 'more a Manichean than ever.'
Characters to notice
- Candide
Arrives in Paris, falls ill, is seduced by the Marchioness, and is tricked by the Abbé and a false Cunégonde before bribing his way out of arrest.
- Martin
Accompanies Candide in Paris, criticizes the city's customs, and helps him escape the arrest by advising bribery.
- The Perigordian Abbé
Acts as a guide in Paris, introduces Candide to the theater and the Marchioness, and later betrays him by arranging the false Cunégonde scheme and the arrest.
- The Marchioness
Seduces Candide at supper and obtains two of his diamonds.
- Cunégonde
Mentioned as the object of Candide's love; a false version of her is used to trick him in Paris.
- Cacambo
Mentioned as having been left in Bordeaux with the old woman, to follow Cunégonde.
- The Old Woman
Mentioned as having been left in Bordeaux with Cacambo.
Key passages
“I remember also to have been sick at Paris in my first voyage; I was very poor, thus I had neither friends, devotees, nor doctors, and I recovered.”
Martin recalls that when he was poor and sick in Paris, he had no one to help him, yet he recovered anyway.
Martin contrasts his own experience with Candide's, implying that wealth attracts unnecessary and harmful attention.
“Travellers are not treated thus in El Dorado.”
Candide remarks that in El Dorado, travelers are not arrested and imprisoned.
Candide contrasts the ideal society of El Dorado with the corrupt and dangerous reality of Paris.
“I am more a Manichean now than ever.”
Martin says he now believes even more strongly in a dualistic world where good and evil are in constant conflict.
Martin's pessimism deepens after witnessing the treachery in Paris.